Batman Begins

The office went to see Batman Begins today. I had been looking forward to it, since it looked like a return to the darker, brooding Batman typified by Tim Burton 's Batman movies. Aside from a few stupid plot elements (a microwave emitter?! c'mon…), I really enjoyed it. The 141 minute runtime breezed by.

The movie did a nice job of explaining Batman's true origins and motivations, giving him depth and humanity. There were also some well placed comedic moments that worked without being cheesy. I hope they make a sequel to this film. (My friend David says that the studio has a trilogy option on the director and some key actors, so that bodes well.)

Carnegie Library Hours

I'm really glad that the Squirrel Hill branch of the Carnegie Library has reopened. It's a great community resource. However, I do have one big complaint about the library. It's only open until 7pm M-W and 5pm Th-Su! Even the library in my hometown (pop. 23,000) is open until 9pm during the week. Sure, the $4.7 million renovation of the Squirrel Hill branch is nice, but I would've preferred that they save some money on the renovations and instead spend that money on staying open later. 9pm would be nice. Even better would be midnight.